Carved In Heart
by Blue-EyesGirl-fic
Summary: After the rush of the funeral and deathly silence of his mourning, Seto knew there was one thing he had yet to prepare. Carving those words into immovable stone would prove more difficult than he had first imagined. Set after the Pharaoh's memories.


Beta: live_with_love  
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! and its characters belong to Kazuki Takahashi  
Spoilers: Priest Seto's relation to Nameless Pharaoh  
Nameless Pharaoh's name (not mentioned in the fic)  
Content: Canon character 'death', angst, introspection  
Author's Notes: So I got the idea for this fic after seeing the image in this post. I have no idea if it's what the artist intended or not but I enjoyed writing this XD

* * *

"Pharaoh." Isis called, lightly knocking on the door as she held a tray in one hand. It wasn't at all her place to deliver food like this but Seto had been so secretive in whatever he was working on. It was evidently important to him but the time spent locked away in his room was worrying her.

She didn't notice the odd noise from within until it stopped and she wasn't at all sure what that noise had been. There was some shuffling after that before she was answered; "Come in."

Isis carefully pushed the door open, shutting it behind her and taking the tray to him. Seto was sat at a small desk, supposedly pouring over scrolls but she wondered if that had been the shuffling noise, if he was trying to hide whatever it was.

"Isis," Seto sounded confused as he looked from her face to the tray in her hands. "Why are you bringing me food?"

She smiled a little. "Mana and I are worried about you, Pharaoh." Isis noticed the minute twitch at the title and the way his hands clenched a little tighter but she didn't mention anything. "What are you doing in here?"

"I was just studying some scriptures."

Isis nodded silently, allowing him to lie, as she set the tray down on an empty spot on the desk. She paused as she straightened up, catching sight of something written on what looked to be a scrap of papyrus.

'The corpse sinks to the floor - The vessel becomes sand, becomes dust' she managed to read before Seto shuffled it away, attempting to do so without making her suspicious she suspected. "Your advisors are worried." she murmured. "As far as they are concerned, the time for mourning has passed and you should be spending all your time running the country and sorting out the rebuilding."

He let out an exasperated sigh. "I am! _We_ are and I am not about to appoint others to possess the remaining items when our city is still in ruin. I would destroy the blasted things if I could." he added angrily but they both knew that he didn't truly mean it.

Even now the Puzzle hung around his neck and the Rod was within reach should he need it.

"I know," she murmured, trying to placate him. "But they are a group of old men who are shaken after… what happened and worried about the future lineage."

Seto growled In frustration. "Yes, because I have plenty of time to devote to some marriage to secure an heir." he snapped sarcastically, hands clenching again. Of course those old fools would only allow him mourning for his cousin, why would he need to mourn over 'some peasant girl'; he was lucky that he'd managed to get her a proper burial at all.

"Seto?" Isis murmured softly, gently touching his shoulder. He snapped out of his thoughts and sighed in defeat.

"I am working on something important. Well, important to me at any rate. I just… need time to work on it, you do not have to worry about me. If it would make you feel better though, you and Mana are welcome to visit whenever you wish." he murmured, finally answering her question truthfully, if a little vaguely. "I trust you both."

Isis smiled a little and gave a small bow. "I hope you enjoy your meal."

He nodded slightly and she withdrew, mulling over the written words she had seen, wondering what it was exactly that Seto was working on.

* * *

Isis and Mana were perplexed to say the least the day the large stone tablet arrived at the palace. It was twice the size of even Pharaoh, who was far from short, and about three times as wide. The tablet was covered with a cloth and would have entered the palace unnoticed by them if they hadn't both been late in returning to their own quarters that evening.

"Pharaoh, what exactly is this?"

He glanced over this shoulder, surprise showing on his face before several other emotions flickered across his features but they were too quick for either of them to pin down and name.

He turned back to watch the men who had brought the tablet move it into the large work shop he'd temporarily set up in the palace. "It is just something I'm working on." he replied, sounding calmer than he had looked a few seconds ago.

"Is it finished?" Mana asked enthusiastically. "Can we see it?" She bounced on the balls of her feet, grinning up on him.

He still didn't look at her, too focused on making sure nothing happened to the tablet. "I still have to finish it."

Mana paused in her bouncing. "But this is stone… You know how to engrave _stone_, Seto-sama?"

He didn't even think to gently reprimand her for the no longer correct form of address. "Is it that surprising?" he asked softly even as he knew that yes it was extremely odd for a _Pharaoh_ but he hadn't grown up in a palace or with all the luxuries he could want in the world. He had had to earn money to help his Mother; he'd had to earn his own after she'd been killed.

And mourning for 70 days had left him with far too much time on his hands. It was how he had concocted the whole idea in the first place and then started practising on anything and everything he could once he'd acquired the necessary tools. "It is late. You should probably both return to your quarters." Seto murmured once he'd come to the end of his train of thought, still watching the men.

Mana huffed a little; she'd probably been rambling about something and he'd entirely missed it thanks to his own thoughts, but Isis ushered her away along the corridor, leaving Seto to relax, completely and utterly grateful for Isis at least being tactful.

* * *

He let out a heavy breath, settling back on his heels and critically looking over the lines he'd written. He still hadn't touched the actual tablet, he was still too… Well he wasn't sure what exactly it was he was feeling but perhaps intimidated was the best word for the moment. For now at least he had moved on to practice on larger bits of stone, the same stone as the tablet was made of, and he had been carving the glyphs in the same size as he would when he finally carved into the actual tablet.

He wiped some sweat off his brow and nodded a little, pleased with the look and spacing of the words.

Perhaps it was time to finally put his words on the tablet.

He got to his feet, body cracking in protest at the stiff position he'd been in as he stretched and loosened his muscles. His feet carried him to the tablet and he knelt down to gently tug the covers from it.

It was more difficult to look at than he expected as his fingers traced over the figure of his cousin. However, it was the cartouche that pained him most; for the moment it bore his cousin's name but it couldn't stay that way. His name was too powerful and it could be used to put the world in peril once more.

And so his cousin had been buried without a name.

It had taken a lot of restraint on his part as every part of his being had screamed in protest, but he knew that that was what had to be done.

Seto shook his head and sighed softly, picking up his tools. He used the utmost care to move into position, tightening his grip on the chisel until his knuckles turned white and his hand stilled. Seto placed it to the stone, convincing himself to start.

Pharaoh's death had been a mess and they had been denied the proper battle for Seto's right to the crown. The city was still mostly in ruins and the people were still scared.

This tablet would be a symbol of hope. That one day he would meet his cousin, his friend, in combat as they should have done and that with the completion of this they all would begin anew.

It took a long time; his sentiments were not overly long but he was being overly cautious, mulling them over even now as he engraved them. Poem complete, there was but one more task. He began to chip at the stone inside the cartouche, stripping his cousin's name from the tablet dedicated to him. Seto barely noticed that it was his own tears that dropped on the dry stone.


End file.
